This article discusses the short story "O anjo das donzelas" (1864), published by Machado de Assis in Jornal das Famílias at the beginning of his career. We intend to show that in this short story Machado creates a very interesting discussion of the kind of books young women were exposed at that time and the pernicious effects they could have on their "moral formation", something that was very important to the newspaper that published it. We start our discussion considering two quotes from Romeo and Juliet made on the short story. We believe that they create several possibilities of meaning in the ficcional context created by the Brazilian author at the beginning of his career.
Shakespeare; "O anjo das donzelas"; Romeo and Juliet; short story